Author
Topic: Too funny (Read 1600 times)

There's a misguided Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., whose members have a flair for protesting military funerals, spewing hatred and venom, but I'll bet a dollar to a dime the followers of the Westboro Baptist Church think twice about venturing into the state of Mississippi again with their circus.

It seems last Saturday Staff Sgt. Jason Rogers, who was killed in Afghanistan on April 7, was buried in his hometown of Brandon, which is a small town in Rankin County, located in the center of the state. And, as is their habit, a crowd of Westboro followers loudly announced they would drive down to take their dubious part.You see, the church leaders believe that homosexuality is a sin and that God is having American soldiers killed in some sort of retribution. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court approved the Westboro method of protests, saying it was freedom of speech. Many of those in Mississippi, however, feel Westboro's message has no place at a funeral for a Marine who died trying to save two other soldiers.

"As soon as we heard that Westboro was gonna' be here, we didn't want that to happen," Zach Magee said. "I'm a firm believer in human rights, and I believe it should be a natural given human right to be able to bury your loved ones without negativity brought towards that," added McGee, who helped organize a counter protest via Facebook and other outlets.

According to various reports, the trouble started a day or two before the funeral when one Westboro zealot stopped at a Brandon gas station, starting "running his mouth" and - whammo - promptly got a sound Southern thumpin'.

I mean, the earlier protester got splashed with a liberal dose of ratta-tat-tat and was whipped pretty badly. Yet when the police arrived, nobody had seen a thing and all discounted such an incident had ever occurred.

In the meanwhile, patriots for many miles around arrived in droves to wave flags and cross their hearts as the funeral process made its way to the cemetery. Thousands lined the route. They were there, in part, to drown out any protesters' cries but - wait - the people of Westboro and their gaudy signs never did show up.

Oh, there were signs aplenty, like "God loves Jason," "Thank You" and "Semper Fi" but the taunts of the Westboro hatred were strangely missing.

To Marlee Merritt, 17, of Richland, the idea that Westboro would come so close to home was infuriating. "It really just (angers) me that they would put the family through that," Merritt said. "They don't need that stuff right now - they're dealing with enough."

So what must have happened? According to Merritt, "This is the Dirty South. We don't play."

A popular rumor is that when the news got out where the Westboro crowd was staying and, this some time shortly before the funeral, the strangest thing occurred. A vacant Rankin County car or pickup truck was mysteriously parked directly behind every car with a Kansas tag in the parking lot. I mean, they hemmed the visitors' cars in, bumper-to-bumper.

Since all the wrecker companies around were "too busy" to lend a hand until after the funeral, the protesters were stranded. Further, according to the tales now being told, the few Westboro members that did get to the funeral were promptly hustled off to be asked what they knew about a crime they might have been involved in.

Yes, after thorough questioning, they were released but it was not - mind you - until the funeral had ended.

Jon Negri, a student at Southern Mississippi, said, "In a round about and direct sort of way, (Westboro) really just boosted the number of people here and support that the family got. Westboro Baptist Church was pretty positive today."

Zack McGee felt the same way. "I really think that was kind of the sole purpose . to keep them away.""Mission accomplished," he added, nodding.

I totally expected that fed-up patriots would give them an old school thumping, but I figured it would go all the way to trial and the jury would understand the extenuating circumstances of stress and aggrivation. - what I never counted on and am immensely pleased to see is the herd of witnesses who suffered from 'temporary blindness' and made it difficult to apprehend anyone. - great post.

If it comes to my area, I expect to find out if walking into a group with a couple of 6 foot snakes around my neck is also considered free speech. Maybe with a friend carrying an artificial swarm on a tree branch. I'm sure we can find a way to show them our side of free speech.

I'm glad to see MS. is leading the way.

Logged

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

So you are saying you believe in free speech as long as it is the free speech you like?

Of course not, I agreed with the supreme court 100% - if you restrict free speech (under the law) even a little you have failed a free society. - the other side of that are legal precedents where if you deliberately and wilfully push someone's hot buttons, the person who punches you out will be excused under extenuating circumstances. I guess the trade off is: Speak your mind freely, but be prepared to take a beating from a private citizen (who would be reasonable under any other circumstances) for it. The "government" didn't officially suppress their right to celebrate the death of a military hero.

I believe that is called assault and battery. Now if someone is saying something you don't like and you walk away but the mouthy persons follows you around, then that is harassment and provoking and then you can probably get away with punching them out.

Logged

:rainbowflower: Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. :rainbowflower:

Of course not, I agreed with the supreme court 100% - if you restrict free speech (under the law) even a little you have failed a free society.

I disagree. I think SCOTUS was inconsistent here - For the same reasons that it's still not legal to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater. You can still yell "Fire" all you want elsewhere - just like they can protest all they want...elsewhere.Hold a protest of Islam outside of a Mosque and it's a hate crime - Same here.

Logged

The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.- Marcus Aurelius -

Speech is only free from legal repercussions. There is no freedom of speech when it comes to retaliation from the citizenry. There is a large distinction there.

Logged

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

Speech is only free from legal repercussions. There is no freedom of speech when it comes to retaliation from the citizenry. There is a large distinction there.

Yep! But if you retaliate physically then there is a law against that. If you appreciate the right to freedom of speech then you shouldn't be so willing to retaliate against some one expressing their opinion.

This is where we loose and have lost so many of our freedoms. Some one doesn't like what some one else does and demands a law against it. :roll:

Logged

:rainbowflower: Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak. :rainbowflower:

If the truth be known, there is no freedom of speech now. Just look at the politicians, speakers, reporters, etc. who have lost their jobs for things they have said. Now, just try and say anything against a race, creed, color, nationality, gender, or sexual preference. You will find out real quick that the public as a whole does NOT support freedom of speech.

Logged

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

If the truth be known, there is no freedom of speech now. Just look at the politicians, speakers, reporters, etc. who have lost their jobs for things they have said. Now, just try and say anything against a race, creed, color, nationality, gender, or sexual preference. You will find out real quick that the public as a whole does NOT support freedom of speech.

That's why I agreed with the supreme court. if they set parameters for "How to protest, and under what circumstances" it's a slippery slope. At the same time I'm totally ok with exactly what happened in Ms. - there's no law that says the community has to welcome the protesters.